I don't understand what the problem is with the imprecision in your story. Did your coworker abuse the extra pills? Did he become an addict? If not, then why is it so bad for him to have gotten more in case he needed them? Don't you think needing them and not having them is worse than the situation your friend was in where he needed to throw them away?
He was a trained pharmacologist who knew that being on a constant dosage for that long can be habit forming so he didn't take them - a decent portion of people are handed a bottle of pain meds "Here's a two week supply" and assume they're supposed to take them at the prescribed rate continuously. It takes an active personal decision to decide not to take the meds prescribed for you and that you've already paid for.
